Being a Saint Since the Age of Myth

Have I run into a newly awakened Malefic Star? Wuxin immediately reached a conclusion.

Only the Underworld possessed such an utterly pure aura of death.

And when that aura suddenly appeared on an ordinary person, there could be only one answer.

Number Two, standing before him, was a newly awakened Malefic Star.

Taking that deduction a step further, his victory had probably shattered Number Two's psychological defenses, making him abandon reason completely and choose to accept the Malefic Star's power, ultimately causing its awakening.

Did I create a Malefic Star? Reaching that conclusion gave Wuxin an immediate headache.

Still, headache or not, he had no intention of showing mercy.

Now that he had confirmed this was a Malefic Star, he no longer needed to hold back.

He shattered the black spears piercing his body with a punch, then charged forward and opened his right hand, gathering his Cosmo in his palm. A wisp of pale flame rose from it.

"Sekishiki: Demonic Blue Flames!"

Just as he was about to cast the flames down and burn Number Two's body and soul together, the shadows on the ground suddenly rose, forming a black barrier that enveloped Number Two completely.

Wuxin hurled the flames down, immediately triggering a chain reaction.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Fueled by Cosmo, the pale flames immediately spread across the black barrier, covering its entire surface in moments.

As the Cosmo burned away, the transformed shadows returned to their original state and fell back to the ground, revealing Number Two before Wuxin once again.

However, Number Two was now completely different from before. A dark, powerful Cosmo radiated from his body, far surpassing his previous level.

By Wuxin's preliminary estimate, his opponent had very likely reached the peak of the Sixth Sense, only a hair's breadth from the Seventh Sense.

This is bad! Danger!

Sensing trouble, Wuxin hurried to retreat and evade.

"Trying to run? Do you think you can escape?"

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have made this choice!"

"This is all your fault!"

"If we'd known, we should have been more careful that night and killed you once and for all!" Number Two glared viciously at Wuxin as another black spear formed in his palm.

Hearing those words, Wuxin suddenly understood.

"So it was you!!!"

On the night the Specters had tried to assassinate him, he had vaguely sensed that there should have been two people outside.

But in the end, they had only caught Terrestrial Darkness Star, while the other had escaped.

Even when Capricorn El Cid personally intervened afterward, he had failed to uncover a second Specter, making Wuxin wonder whether he had imagined it.

But now, hearing Number Two's words, he understood completely.

There had indeed been two people that night, but Number Two had not truly awakened then, so he had not counted as a Specter.

Moreover, Terrestrial Darkness Star had drawn most of the attention, while Number Two had hidden among the ordinary Saints, naturally making him difficult to identify.

"Die, you meddling bastard!" Number Two roared and hurled the spear in his hand straight at him.

"Shadow Pierce!"

A streak of black light flashed, and an utterly terrifying aura reached Wuxin.

The gap in their strength was too great. He had no chance to react at all.

"If I let you kill him so easily right in front of me, wouldn't that make me look bad?"

Accompanied by a mocking chuckle, a golden figure landed before Wuxin and caught the black spear with one hand just before it pierced his forehead.

"Senior Brother!"

Recognizing the newcomer, Wuxin was overjoyed.

"Get farther back. This is no longer something you can handle!" Manigoldo nodded to him and effortlessly crushed the black spear.

"Yes!"

Wuxin answered and retreated as though he had been granted a pardon.

Seeing a Gold Saint enter the fray and knowing he no longer had any chance of killing Wuxin, Number Two said coldly, "This isn't over!"

"We'll meet again!"

Leaving that threat behind, he immediately prepared to sink into the shadows on the ground and escape.

He knew perfectly well that although awakening the Malefic Star's power had greatly increased his strength, he had no chance of fighting the many Saints present. He had to escape as quickly as possible and make plans later.

Yet at that moment, he discovered that an invisible barrier had appeared over the ground without his noticing, completely cutting him off from the shadows.

"Crystal Wall?" He was shocked.

Then Aries Shion's calm voice came from the stands.

"If we simply let you leave, people might accuse us of neglecting our guest."

"I think you should stay in Sanctuary and continue cultivating your mind!"

The instant he saw the Malefic Star awaken, he had silently laid a Crystal Wall over the ground, completely cutting off any possibility of his opponent escaping through the shadows.

"Damn it!"

Seeing no hope of escape, Number Two threw all caution to the wind. He immediately leaped up and lunged straight at Sasha in the stands.

No matter what, he would leave a lasting impression on these arrogant Gold Saints.

However, his idea was destined to remain wishful thinking.

"You cannot pass. Please go back!"

Taurus Hasgard stood at the very front with his arms tightly folded.

"Great Horn!"

With a sudden flash of golden light, a giant golden bull charged at Number Two.

Oh no!

Sensing the terrifying power within the golden bull, Number Two did not dare block it and dodged well clear of it.

Although he was still only at the Sixth Sense, he had reached its peak and was infinitely close to the speed of light. The gap in speed between him and the Gold Saints was not too great, giving him a chance to evade.

Boom!

The golden bull struck the arena, instantly blasting a crater over several dozen meters across into the ground.

"Say, haven't you forgotten something?"

A teasing voice suddenly rang out behind Number Two.

A chill immediately ran down Number Two's back. He hurried to reposition himself, but it was already too late.

Dodging Taurus's attack had allowed Manigoldo to catch up with him, leaving him no chance to evade.

"Sekishiki: Demonic Blue Flames!"

A pale flame landed on Number Two and instantly swelled, engulfing him completely.

"Aah-!"

He screamed in agony, falling to the ground and struggling desperately as he tried to extinguish the flames on his body.

Unfortunately, the Demonic Blue Flames had already attached themselves to his body and were using his soul as fuel. They would not go out until his soul had burned away.

Chapter 44: Choosing a New Master

Soon, the screams faded, and Number Two stopped struggling, lying motionless on the ground.

"That's enough, Manigoldo!" the Pope reminded him from the stands.

"Got it!"

Manigoldo waved without looking back, then snapped his fingers and extinguished the flames on the corpse.

Only after the last wisp of flame disappeared did he pick up the corpse and leave the arena, vanishing from sight.

Wuxin immediately understood. Manigoldo had deliberately preserved the corpse, intending to suppress it within Sanctuary.

That was because Specters possessed the ability to resurrect.

Their power came from the Underworld's 108 Malefic Stars. These were not merely titles, but also represented certain special ranks within the Underworld, somewhat similar to divine positions.

As long as the Underworld remained, the source of the 108 Malefic Stars would not be destroyed. This also gave the Specters, whose existence depended on those stars, a nearly indestructible nature, allowing them to return from the dead.

Even if their corpses were burned away and their souls obliterated, they could still rely on the power of the 108 Malefic Stars to reconstruct their bodies and souls and resurrect.

If their bodies were destroyed, they would resurrect in the Underworld, but if their corpses remained, they could only resurrect using those corpses as anchors.

However, by deliberately preserving and sealing the corpses, Sanctuary could prevent the Specters' souls from reuniting with their bodies, putting them in a state of living death and effectively suppressing their ability to resurrect.

That was why Manigoldo had deliberately preserved the corpse.

Seeing that everything had settled down, the Saint serving as referee finally stepped forward and announced loudly, "The winner of this battle is Number Three!"

Waves of cheers immediately erupted from the stands.

Pope Sage walked to the front of the platform and addressed Wuxin below. "Congratulations, young man. You have defeated many powerful opponents and claimed the final victory. You are the strongest competitor in the Silver division of this Cloth tournament!"

"Come, become a true Saint under Lady Sasha's witness!"

With that, he turned and stepped aside, making way.

Sasha stepped to the front of the platform at that moment and said softly, "Saint Candidate Wuxin, as the strongest competitor in the Silver division of this Cloth tournament, you are entitled to choose a Cloth!"

"Come, release your Cosmo and gain a Cloth's recognition!"

As she spoke, she gently waved the golden scepter in her hand, and twelve silver pillars of light immediately rose within the arena.

Only when the light dispersed did everyone see clearly that they were twelve silver Cloth boxes.

Sasha had summoned every unclaimed Cloth in Sanctuary to this place.

"Thank you for your gift, Lady Sasha!"